


Lo and Behold

by forgadgetsandgizmos



Series: Malex Week 2020 [3]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Fluff, Horny Teenagers, Kissing, Light Angst, M/M, Malex Week 2020, Pre-Canon, Teen Angst, Teen Romance, Teenagers, Trucks, the lost decade
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:33:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25293256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forgadgetsandgizmos/pseuds/forgadgetsandgizmos
Summary: In moments of foolishly hopeful delusion, he’d justified the risk as worth it in order to see Michael. As he walked under the heat for the fourth time that week, feeling the sweat drip down his back, he had to admit that he still did.But Alex knew that’s all it was: delusion. No one with half a brain and a decent sense of self-preservation would ever come near him again after what happened that night. And Michael’s brilliant brain was one of the many thing Alex adored about him.—Or, Alex and Michael see each other for the first time since the shed and Rosa.
Relationships: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Series: Malex Week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1829212
Comments: 10
Kudos: 96





	Lo and Behold

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Day 3 of Malex Week 2020 | Prompt: "I can explain"
> 
> — 
> 
> Did the show ever actually explain how teen!Alex go to/from work at the emporium? I'll add it to the list of things explained away by it being a tv show. 
> 
> Not beta'd, fair warning, but I did my best. Hope you enjoy!

Alex walked out of the door and bristled at the rush of heat that greeted him, already annoyed at the half-hour walk home ahead of him. He’d gotten used to having Flint’s old car to drive around or Rosa as a backup anytime he needed. With the car in the shop waiting on repairs he couldn’t afford without work and Rosa. . . 

Alex shook his head. He knew better than anyone that work doesn’t stop just because something else did. Even when that something else was the death of a friend. 

Boisterous laughter drifted over from where Kyle and small group of his friends gathered outside the Crashdown. Alex ducked his head and sped up, eager to get past them. Despite his speed walking, he barely felt so much as a breeze. The heat was almost enough to make him consider wearing something besides all black, if just to cool him down. Almost. 

A few weeks ago, before everything, when he knew the car was on its last legs and about to give out, he’d asked Michael to drop Alex off around the block from his house whenever Rosa couldn’t. For a while after the funeral, Alex was hopeful he’d stay true to his word, despite the risk of having to explain who gave him a ride to his dad. In moments of foolishly hopeful delusion, he’d justified the risk as worth it in order to see Michael. As he walked under the heat for the fourth time that week, feeling the sweat drip down his back, he had to admit that he still did. 

But Alex knew that’s all it was: delusion. No one with half a brain and a decent sense of self-preservation would ever come near him again after what happened that night. And Michael’s brilliant brain was one of the many thing Alex adored about him. 

A sudden, loud roar of an engine revving beside him broke his train of thought. He glanced up, ready to level the idiot making such a ruckus with a glare, and almost tripped at what he saw. 

The familiar pale white and blue of Michael’s truck filled his eyes. A quick peak through the open window revealed Michael in the driver’s seat, good hand on the steering wheel and the other tucked in his lap, out of view. 

“Need a ride?” Michael called out over the noise. 

Alex tensed and fixed his eyes on a crack in the sidewalk. “I’m good,” he answered curtly.

“Come on, Alex. It’s a hundred degrees out.” 

“I’m good,” he repeated, nervously glancing behind him, as if he could see the Crashdown through the multiple building it was hidden behind. He sped up, heading for the crosswalk ahead of him.

Michael, who’d been slowly inching along beside him, sped forward and turned sharply, blocking Alex’s path with his truck. 

“I don’t have to take you back to your house,” he offered. “We can get milkshakes. Or just drive around, waste time,” he added quickly at Alex’s stricken expression. 

“What are doing?” Alex asked harshly.

Michael flinched at his tone. “What do you mean?”

“I _mean_ we haven’t talked in two weeks and now you’re showing up, offering me a ride.”

“I said I would.”

“And then you didn’t call,” Alex whispered, not moving from his spot on the sidewalk. He didn’t, _couldn’t_ blame him for it, but no answer was an answer all the same. 

“I can explain,” Michael pleaded. “Get in the truck?” 

Alex swallowed the lump in his throat and huffed. With one last glance around him to make sure the coast was clear, he yanked open the door and slid inside, shutting it behind him. 

The truck lurched forward before the door fully shut, as if he was worried Alex would change his mind and jump out if he stayed a second longer. He sighed in relief when the cool air rushed over his skin at full blast.

Alex spoke before Michael could. “You don’t have to explain,” he said, keeping his eyes fixing on the road in front of him.

“I want to,” Michael answered. “I didn’t mean to not talk to you for so long.” 

“It’s okay, I figured you wouldn’t,” Alex rushed to say, not wanting Michael to feel bad. Alex’s current presence in his truck was more than he ever (realistically) thought would happen, and he was grateful for it. 

“No, it’s not okay,” Michael insisted. Alex heard his growl, low and frustrated. “Max and Isobel had a family problem that same night after . . . after I left. It’s their issue and not really my place to say, but I’ve been helping them deal with it. And last week I turned eighteen and my foster whatever stopped paying for my phone. It’s shut off until I can find a job and pay for it,” he explained. 

Alex sat in rigid silence beside him. “I didn’t know it was your birthday.”

Michael sputtered, then huffed. “Yeah,” he finally said. “I’m sorry I couldn’t find another way to talk to you. I’ll still give you rides if you tell me your schedule ahead of time.” 

Alex finally looked over at him and smiled weakly. Even that pitiful offering fell from his face when his eyes landed on Michael’s wrapped hand laying limply in his lap. 

“Your hand—” he broke off, not knowing what else to say. 

Michael glanced briefly between Alex, the road, and his hand, face shuttering. He put on a false smile and shook it off: “It’s fine.” 

“It’s _not fine,_ ” Alex protested furiously. 

“It’ll _be_ fine,” Michael corrected. 

Alex scoffed and leaned against the window, vaguely aware of blurred buildings passing as they left civilization and headed deeper into the desert. “It’ll never be fine,” he mumbled. Realizing how that sounded, Alex turned back to Michael. “I don’t mean—"

“It’s okay,” Michael cut him off. “I know what you meant.”

“Have you been to the doctor?”

Michael winced. “Can’t. No insurance.”

“ _Michael,_ ” Alex chastised, hitting his arm lightly. 

“ _Alex,_ ” he mocked, grinning over at him. 

Looking at the dramatic expression on Michael’s face, Alex couldn’t help but chuckle at the absurdity of events in the past month, growing louder until his first laugh in weeks turned into a shaking fit in the passenger seat of Michael’s car. Michael laughed with him, or maybe at him, Alex didn’t know. Either way, neither boy stopped until Alex was gasping for breath. Michael had to pull over in the sand and throw the truck into park. 

“Thanks for getting me,” Alex said after a beat. 

“Always,” Michael answered, soft and sure. The fading sun cast an orange glow on the side of his face, highlighting a stray curl blowing across his forehead. 

Alex’s gaze fell to his lips before Michael leaned forward and captured his own in a desperate kiss. Careful not to crush Michael’s injured hand further, Alex moved closer until the centerpiece of the truck was digging into his side and cupped Michael’s face in both hands. Michael’s was buried in his hair, steering wheel abandoned. 

Alex pulled back and met Michael’s eyes, heavy and lustful, no doubt similar to what Michael saw in his. He touched their foreheads together, not moving his hands from the sides of Michael’s face. 

“I’ve missed you,” he whispered, still slightly breathless.  
Michael grinned. “I know.” 

Alex’s words, that he’d stay in Roswell forever if only museum boy kept kissing him, echoed in his head. Two weeks ago, they’d felt painfully naïve. 

Sitting in Michael’s truck and laughing as Michael eagerly kissed him again and again, the feeling of their first kiss echoing in his mind, he remembered exactly why he knew them to be true. 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments/kudos bring me joy (:
> 
> Visit me on tumblr at [forgadgetsandgizmos](https://forgadgetsandgizmos.tumblr.com/)


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